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*le français suit*If you are in the US please also refer to UAEM's US petition here.

As students, individuals, and organizations who are collectively dedicated to promoting public health and ensuring access to medicines for all, we are concerned about access to diagnostic tools and vaccines to treat the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Canada has made a significant public investment into "accelerating the development, testing, and implementation of measures to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak”, including developing diagnostic tools and vaccines.

We want to ensure that all diagnostics, vaccines and treatments for COVID-19 that are developed with Canadian public dollars are equitably priced, available to everyone, and free at the point of delivery. We ask for open and non-exclusive licensing to be included as a precondition for receiving funding, for example through the use of Global Access Licensing conditions, and for licensing agreements for any technologies developed with public funds to include clear and enforceable requirements for fair and affordable pricing. Access to the end-results of publicly-funded research must be the primary goal of technology transfer.

The Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Health said that “protecting the health and well-being of Canadians is our top priority” and in order to ensure that this remains the case, the government must ensure that the results of this publicly-funded research are available to all. Protecting the health and well-being of Canadians from a highly transmissible disease in a highly connected world necessitates a response rooted in global solidarity. At this point, there are more than 118,000 cases confirmed in over 100 countries. We must ensure that all people have access to diagnostic tools and vaccines developed in Canada. If monopolies by pharmaceutical corporations inhibit access and availability around the world, Canada’s ability to protect its own residents will be ineffective.

Please consider supporting our letter to the top health officials in Canada who have the power to deliver this funding responsibly.

We are writing to you on behalf of Universities Allied for Essential Medicines and the undersigned individuals and organizations who are collectively dedicated to promoting public health and ensuring access to medicines for all.

We understand that a significant public investment has been promised to “further contribute to global efforts to address the COVID-19 outbreak” by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Canada Research Coordinating Committee (CRCC) through the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF), the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and Genome Canada (GC). The investment will “focus on accelerating the development, testing, and implementation of measures to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak”, including developing diagnostic tools and vaccines. The Federal Government announced an additional $275 million in research funding on Wednesday, March 11.

On March 9, the University of Saskatchewan announced that a COVID-19 vaccine had been produced and is now being tested in animals. The research team has received $23 million in federal government funding to pursue the vaccine.

We write asking you to ensure that all diagnostics, vaccines and treatments for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that are developed with Canadian public dollars are equitably priced, available to everyone, and free at the point of delivery. We ask for open and non-exclusive licensing to be included as a precondition for receiving funding, for example through the use of Global Access Licensing conditions, and for licensing agreements for any technologies developed with public funds to include clear and enforceable requirements for fair and affordable pricing. Access to the end-results of publicly-funded research must be the primary goal of technology transfer.

Availability and supply of vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments developed must be based on public health needs, not commercial or political considerations. Therefore, fragile and monopolised supply chains must be prevented and transparent and fair distribution of available supplies ensured.

The Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Health said that “protecting the health and well-being of Canadians is our top priority” and in order to ensure that this remains the case, the government must ensure that the results of this publicly-funded research are available to all. Protecting the health and well-being of Canadians from a highly transmissible disease in a highly connected world necessitates a response rooted in global solidarity. At this point, there are more than 400,000 cases confirmed in over 170 countries. We must ensure that all people have access to diagnostic tools and vaccines developed in Canada. If monopolies by pharmaceutical corporations inhibit access and availability around the world, Canada’s ability to protect its own residents will be ineffective.

We look forward to your response and hope that you will continue to consider Canadians’ health and well-being a top priority by ensuring access to all publicly-funded diagnostic tools and vaccines at this critical moment.

Sincerely,

Universities Allied for Essential Medicines
Canadian Health Coalition
SeeChange Initiative
Canadian Doctors for Medicare
Rachel Kiddell-Monroe, ISID Professor of Practice, McGill University
Steve Morgan, PhD, Professor, School of Population and Public Health University of British Columbia
T1International
Charles P Larson, MC, CM, FRCP(C) McGill University Global Health Program, National Coordinator, Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
MSF Access Campaign
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
National Union of Public and General Employees
Results Canada
I-MAK
Canadian AIDS Society
Young Professionals Chronic Disease Network
Health Solidarity Coalition
The Quebec Association for the Defense of the Rights of Retired and Pre-Retired Persons
Canadian Council for International Co-operation
Consumers Union (Quebec).
Central Council of Metropolitan Montreal-CSN
Central Syndicates of Quebec (CSQ)
The Federation of Health and Social Services (FSSS-CSN)
Outaouais Health Action
Sectoral grouping of community organizations of Montreal (RIOCM)
The Ilisaqsivik Society
Association of Retired Persons from Education and Other Public Services in Quebec (AREQ)
The Table of Provincial Groupings of Community and Voluntary Organizations
Federation of Women's Shelters

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